Lecture EPFL Water on Mars

1. Water on Mars. Past and present Lecture 7 Tuesday, November 12 2013 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

2. Outline • • Tuesday, November 12 2013 History of Mars exploration and relationship with water • Why Mars and why water? • Insight from space probes • Water on Mars through time Actual water reservoirs • Today’s atmospheric conditions • Polar ice caps • Near subsurface ice • Subsurface ice 2 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

3. Why Mars and why water? Tuesday, November 12 2013 3 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

4. Why Mars and why water? What are the current outstanding questions to drive future exploration? • • • When and where did liquid water persist with a sufficiently high activity to support life? Did life or pre-biotic chemistry develop? What drove a fundamental change, from the Noachian to Hesperian periods, in the surface environment recorded in aqueous deposits? How did Mars' internal evolution influence the surface environment? ©NASA Tuesday, November 12 2013 4 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

5. Insight from space probes Percival Lowell (≈1900) Tuesday, November 12 2013 5 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

6. Insight from space probes Tuesday, November 12 2013 6 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

7. Insight from space probes Viking (1975) Mariner (1965-1971) Tuesday, November 12 2013 7 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

8. Insight from space probes Viking (1975) Tuesday, November 12 2013 8 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

9. Insight from space probes Mars Express 2003 Mars Global Surveyor 1996 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter 2005 Mars Odyssey 2001 Global mapping with many observation techniques Tuesday, November 12 2013 9 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

10. Insight from space probes MGS TES - 1996 MO GRS - 2001 Gamma spectroscopy MO THEMIS - 2001 MRO SHARAD - 2005 MEx MARSIS - 2003 Radar MGS MOC - 1996 Thermal infrared MEx HRSC - 2003 MEx OMEGA - 2003 MRO CTX & HiRISE - 2005 MRO CRISM - 2005 Visible optical imagery Visible – Near Infrared spectroscopy Tuesday, November 12 2013 10 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

11. Insight from space probes Gamma spectroscopy Thermal infrared Radar Visible optical imagery Visible – Near Infrared spectroscopy Tuesday, November 12 2013 11 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

12. Insight from space probes MGS MOC - 1996 MEx HRSC - 2003 MRO CTX & HiRISE - 2005 MGS MOLA - 1996 Tuesday, November 12 2013 12 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

13. Water on Mars through time Evidence of water from: • Morphology • Mineralogy Tuesday, November 12 2013 13 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

14. Water on Mars through time Evidence of water from: • Morphology • Mineralogy Tuesday, November 12 2013 14 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

15. Water on Mars through time THEMIS IR Mosaic in the Warrego Valles area Valley networks HIRISE image Small Valley Networks in the Ancient Southern Highlands (ESP_012519_1320) Tuesday, November 12 2013 15 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

16. Water on Mars through time Lake deltas and fans High rate of erosion for the craters in the southern hemisphere Tuesday, November 12 2013 16 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

17. Water on Mars through time Tuesday, November 12 2013 17 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

21. Water on Mars through time Minerals that need water to be produced Local detections: Clays in Nili Fossae region Large scale detections: Clays in Mawrth Vallis Tuesday, November 12 2013 21 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

23. Water on Mars through time • • Tuesday, November 12 2013 23 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

24. Water on Mars through time MOLA in the Kasei Valles area Outflow channels Tuesday, November 12 2013 24 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

25. Water on Mars through time Resurfacing of North planes and rampart craters Tuesday, November 12 2013 25 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

26. Water on Mars through time Terra Meridiani (Opportunity) Tuesday, November 12 2013 Interior Layered Deposits (ILD) in Valles Marineris (HRSC) 26 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

27. Water on Mars through time Sulfates in ILD Tuesday, November 12 2013 Sulfate over clays in Colombus crater 27 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

28. Water on Mars through time • • Tuesday, November 12 2013 28 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

30. Water on Mars through time Layered deposits on the North polar cap Tuesday, November 12 2013 30 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

31. Water on Mars through time Gullies Tuesday, November 12 2013 31 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

32. Water on Mars through time gullies viscous flow Low-latitude gullies Brine with ferric sulfate Tuesday, November 12 2013 32 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

33. Outline • • Tuesday, November 12 2013 History of Mars exploration and relationship with water • Why Mars and why water? • Insight from space probes • Water on Mars through time Actual water reservoirs • Today’s atmospheric conditions • Polar ice caps • Near subsurface ice • Subsurface ice 33 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

34. Today’s atmospheric conditions Atmospheric pressure 560 Pa Temperatures -133°C / 27°C Atmosphere 95.3% CO2 No liquid water at surface conditions Tuesday, November 12 2013 34 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

35. Polar ice caps Tuesday, November 12 2013 35 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

36. Polar ice caps Tuesday, November 12 2013 36 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

37. Polar ice caps South Polar Ice Cap: 1.6 x 106 km3, which is equivalent to a global water layer of approximately 11 meters thick Tuesday, November 12 2013 37 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

38. Near subsurface ice Tuesday, November 12 2013 38 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

41. Subsurface ice Found in few place under the surface (depths 1 to 3 km) Represent 1% of the total water volume contained in the polar caps, equivalent to a global water layer 20 cm thick. Tuesday, November 12 2013 41 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL

42. Summary • • Tuesday, November 12 2013 Evidence for liquid water during Mars history • Noachian warm and wet • Valley networks • Craters erosion • Deltas and fans • Hydrated minerals • Hesperian colder and dryer but water still present • Outflow channels • Rampart craters • Sulfates and layered deposits • Amazonian to present • Almost no water activity except at high latitudes and in polar caps Actual water reservoirs • Polar ice caps • Near subsurface ice • Subsurface ice 42 Dr Harold Clenet, EPSL, EPFL